Universe Infinite Canteen

The speaker was a man in his fifties, with a square face that commanded respect even without anger, and standing beside him was an elderly man with white hair and beard.

The elderly man wore a brocade robe with two patches on the hem and carried seven cloth bags of varying sizes on his back.

He had also witnessed the recent battle between Ma Lu and Qin Ruohai and praised, "What a fine display of Songxi Fast Sword, it seems Sage Chongyun has taken another worthy disciple."

"Uh, I'm not from the Songxi Sword Sect," said Ma Lu.

"Hmm?" The elderly man seemed slightly surprised but didn't say much else and gave the square-faced man a cupped fist salute.

"Supervisor Shi, I'll leave it to you then."

"Of course, Helmsman Hong, please take care," Shi Wenjiao escorted Helmsman Hong to the door before turning back to address Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi.

"I've kept you waiting, may I know what brings you here?"

"Oh, we're here to collect a reward," Ma Lu said as he handed over the package he was holding.

The disciple who had received them took the package and said,

"There's no need to rush, the eldest disciple has already taken people to investigate the small temple you mentioned. Once Yan Wuji's death is confirmed, we will pay you the reward. Zhengqi Academy always keeps its promises… Ah!"

The disciple's voice abruptly stopped because he had just unopened the package, only to see a grotesquely grimacing human head inside!

The disciple was greatly startled, losing grip of the head, which thudded to the floor and rolled back towards Ma Lu.

Ma Lu stepped on the head to stop it, then bent down to pick it up again.

As he lifted his head, the disciples of Zhengqi Academy had also drawn their Top Scholar Brushes, surrounding him and Gu Qingyi with an air of high alert.

"Don't misunderstand, I just wanted to get the reward sooner," Ma Lu said as he lifted the head again, deliberately facing it towards Shi Wenjiao.

A thought flashed across Shi Wenjiao's mind and he called over a disciple, "You've fought that demon before, go take a look."

The disciple obeyed and came forward to examine the head closely.

The head had been buried in the ground for seven days, had swollen significantly, and was leaking bodily fluids, altering its appearance considerably from when it was alive.

Still, the disciple recognized it and reported back to Shi Wenjiao, "Supervisor Shi, it is indeed that demon."

Shi Wenjiao had already heard from Gu Qingyi about what happened that night at the temple, and after interrogating Yan Wuji's wife, found the accounts to match.

He was already quite convinced, sending people to check was merely out of thoroughness, but now seeing Yan Wuji's severed head left no room for any doubt.

He immediately ordered someone to bring six silver notes, each one thousand taels, and handed them to Ma Lu, "This is the six thousand taels reward previously offered by Zhengqi Academy, thank you both for eliminating this menace from the martial arts circles."

Ma Lu received the silver notes, his eyes flickering with joy; Yan Wuji's head was worth more than he had imagined.

With six thousand taels of silver, even after splitting it with Gu Qingyi, he had three thousand taels, enough to buy over two hundred pounds of secret medicine at Hundred Herbs Hall.

However, there was still a significant gap to fill his Collection Bag, and Ma Lu was now fretting over it.

Using others' cultivation resources for meals, naturally his spending rate was frightening, and he wondered where he could gather more money next.

Upon leaving the Academy's gate, while Ma Lu thought about his next plans, he handed three of the newly acquired silver notes to Gu Qingyi, but Gu Qingyi didn't accept them.

"If it weren't for your intervention that night, I would have died at the hands of Yan Wuji; this reward should rightfully be yours alone."

Hearing this, Ma Lu simply stuffed the three thousand taels of silver notes into Gu Qingyi's hand.

"Take it, no need to be polite with me. It was you who killed the man, so you definitely deserve a share of the money. Moreover, since you're traveling, you'll have plenty of expenses ahead."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyi no longer declined and happily accepted the silver note, then he asked Ma Lu,

"Brother Ma, are you short on money lately?"

"Yes," blinked Ma Lu.

"Then there's an opportunity to make a lot of money right now."

"What opportunity?"

"I mentioned it to you before, the big case that has happened in the city recently. The Beggars' Sect has announced to the martial arts circles that if someone can find the Lotus Bowl, they will be rewarded handsomely."

Gu Qingyi was very excited. However, after saying this, he noticed that Ma Lu showed little interest, "What, are you not interested in this case?"

"A bunch of beggars, how much money could they possibly have."

"Brother Ma, you shouldn't underestimate the Beggars' Sect. They are the largest sect in the world, with sub-rudders in every province and hundreds of thousands of members spread from the southernmost to the northernmost parts of the country. And they're not just limited to beggars.

"Many local wealthy merchants and gentry have also joined the Beggars' Sect. With the money and influence of these people, the sect has thrived in recent years. In fact, the Beggars' Sect can now be said to be the wealthiest faction in the world.

"If someone can retrieve the Lotus Bowl, even if they ask for tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, the sect wouldn't blink an eye."

"Ah?" Ma Lu finally became interested, "The Beggars' Sect is so wealthy?"

"Hmm, I've been recuperating in Yuchang County these past days, and also took the opportunity to gather some information. I found that at least half of the city's industries are affiliated with the Beggars' Sect."

"The other half belongs to the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Oh, by the way, do you know about the Heavenly Dragon Sect? They are the main rivals of the Beggars' Sect. Many suspect that the theft of the Beggars' Sect's Lotus Bowl was done by someone from the Heavenly Dragon Sect."

"Lately, the atmosphere between the Heavenly Dragon Sect and the Beggars' Sect has been quite tense. The Beggars' Sect wants to confront Li Tianlong, but he hasn't shown up, hmm, we could start our investigation into the whereabouts of the Lotus Bowl from the Heavenly Dragon Sect."

"No, I think we should start with the late Gang Leader of the Beggars' Sect," Ma Lu astonishingly suggested.

"Eh? Why?" Gu Qingyi was startled.

Ma Lu certainly couldn't say that after the recent battle, he felt a deep need to improve his own strength and had long been interested in Deng Youtai's martial arts, planning to explore new opportunities.

So he made up an excuse, "Right now, Yuchang County is full of people from the martial arts circles. There must be many eyes watching the Heavenly Dragon Sect. If we also start investigating them, even if we really find something, we would certainly be a step behind others. It would be better to take a different route."

"Hmm, you make sense," Gu Qingyi pondered for a moment, "But what does this have to do with Gang Leader Deng, he died half a month ago."
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"That's hard to say," Ma Lu continued to bluff, "I heard that Deng Youtai died of an illness, but as a martial arts master, although he was over seventy, he was always physically fit. How could he suddenly fall ill and lose his life? There might be hidden circumstances behind this.

"Mm, the Lotus Bowl is a symbol of the leadership of the Beggars' Sect from generation to generation, and Gang Leader Deng always carried it with him. He most likely left a clue on the bowl when he was murdered, which is why it was stolen."

"Your theory is quite unusual..." Gu Qingyi stroked his fake beard, "The person who stole the Lotus Bowl doesn't want anyone to discover the real cause of Gang Leader Deng's death, but doesn't that seem a bit far-fetched? Do you know who would want to harm Gang Leader Deng?"

"No, but our investigation should involve bold assumptions and careful verification."

Ma Lu looked up at the sky, noticing the sun had already set, then said, "I plan to visit Gang Leader Deng's grave tonight, you..."

"I'll join you."

"Uh," Ma Lu initially wanted to refuse, but upon second thought, realized he indeed needed someone to watch his back, so he changed his mind and said,

"All right, let's start looking there. If this lead doesn't pan out, it won't be too late to search for other clues."